Your Distance

Ting Shuang was still worried about the exam, “But I haven’t finished revising.”

“But can you take anything in now?” Bai Changyi asked.

Ting Shuang shook his head, redirecting his thoughts away from it, “Fine, I can’t take anything in anyway. Let’s go out and play, just as a stress reliever… What are we doing?”

“What do you want to play?” Bai Changyi put the emphasis on “you”.

Ting Shuang thought for a while, and said, “… I don’t know.”

Bai Changyi said, “Keep thinking about it if you don’t know.”

Ting Shuang said, “Then… Are there any options I can choose from?”

Bai Changyi smiled and said, “No.”

Ting Shuang straddled Bai Changyi’s thigh and dissatisfiedly pulled on his tie, “Hey, it’s you who said you wanted to take me out to play. You don’t even have options available, isn’t that too irresponsible?”

Bai Changyi put his hand on the back of Ting Shuang’s waist and said, “I am responsible for ‘taking you out’, and you are responsible for the rest.”

“I don’t know what I can do…”

“I’ll consider whether you ‘can or cannot’ do it. You just have to think about what you want to do.”

“Anything’s fine?”

“We’ll talk about feasibility later. Right now, not taking any other factors into account, what do you want to do?”

Ting Shuang looked at the ceiling for a while, and suddenly started wondering out loud, “I want to… drive a racecar without speed limits, so no one can catch up to me; play football and destroy everyone else, so even Germans can’t beat me; sail the seas and ride with the winds and waves, so as to fight the sharks; form a band in which I can play the guitar and sing, having tens of thousands of people in the audience go crazy; put on a mech suit, so I can fly around the city killing giants; hack all the professors’ computers, so I can steal the exam– cough, where was I. Oh, flying around killing giants… Hm, about the last one, isn’t flying around killing giants too unrealistic?”

Bai Changyi laughed as he listened, “The first few aren’t very realistic either.”

Ting Shuang also felt like laughing, “I know… so I didn’t think about really doing it…”

However, he didn’t expect Bai Changyi’s words to take on a whole new direction, “Being unrealistic doesn’t mean they’re impossible.”

“But…” Ting Shuang really couldn’t figure out how they could be done.

“As I’d said, I’ll consider whether you ‘can or cannot’ do it.” Bai Changyi patted Ting Shuang’s buttocks, “We’re going out so change your clothes. Wear shorter pants.”

“Then I’ll wear shorts.” Ting Shuang asked while looking for clothes, “Is it because we’re playing football?”

Bai Changyi’s lips tipped up, “It’s because I want to see the view.”

If Ting Shuang’d heard this before, he would definitely blush, but now, because Bai Changyi often told him about how beautiful his body was, he confidently stood up straight, back facing Bai Changyi, deliberately turning back and glancing at his buttocks and legs as if showing off. He asked proudly, “Is the view good?”

Bai Changyi couldn’t help but keep laughing, “Yeah.”

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Ting Shuang put on a pair of mint green shorts and was extremely satisfied with his figure, “Say, since I’m this good-looking, will others think ‘hey, this old man has to be rich’(1) when they see me standing next to you later?”

After he finished speaking, he immediately ran out, like a child who had just been up to no good, scared of getting a beating.

“Driver’s license,” Bai Changyi reminded him from behind.

Ting Shuang paused, turned around and slipped back in, kissing Bai Changyi’s face and smiling, “I put my driver’s license in the study… I’ll go get it… You are so cool.”

Ting Shuang hadn’t driven for a long time. He obtained his driver’s license during the summer vacation after his college entrance examination, and he hadn’t driven the family car after coming out. After coming to Germany, he took the test and got a Germany driver’s license. But after getting the license, aside from when he rented a car on holiday once, he’d never driven another car since.

After getting his driver’s license and sitting in the passenger seat, he asked, “Where are we going?”

Bai Changyi said, “We’re leaving the city in search of a highway without speed limits.”

Ting Shuang’s heart beat fast. He was both excited and nervous, “So we’re going on the legendary German highways that have no speed limits?”

“It’s not that all highways have no speed limits,” Bai Changyi turned to look at Ting Shuang, finding his excitement especially cute, “Only some.”

Ting Shuang took out his mobile phone, “I want to create a drift-racing playlist so that I can really feel it.”

“You want to feel it.” Bai Changyi thought for a moment, before turning the steering wheel and driving in the opposite direction, “Then we’ll go to a car rental first.”

“Why? Don’t you have a car?”

Bai Changyi smiled, “It’s not the same.”

It was only after they’d arrived at the car rental shop that Ting Shuang knew what exactly was different.

Bai Changyi rented a super showy, retro convertible sports car. Of course, he was well past the age at which people drove this kind of car, but before he turned 20, he often drove the hottest girls around in a convertible (the girlfriends he had at that time were usually the hottest girls).

“You drive.” Bai Changyi took the passenger seat, “Turn back around and leave the city.”

Ting Shuang leaned against the back of the driver’s seat and held the steering wheel in his hands, “Fuck, after a few years of living on my own, young, poor and timid, I almost forgot that this young master once had a silver spoon in his mouth.”

He was acting so arrogant and scornful that Bai Changyi was amused, “That’s about enough, start the car.”

Ting Shuang also laughed, “Actually, my dad was strict and didn’t let me drive around.”

After making a U-turn, the setting sun was shining in his eyes. Ting Shuang put on his sunglasses and was about to start playing his songs, when he suddenly caught a glimpse of an old record in the car.

“Babe, take a look at what record this is,” He said to Bai Changyi.

Bai Changyi took a look, “’Hunting High and Low’, an album in 1985. There’s ‘Take On Me’.”

“Come come, put this on.”

The familiar prelude sounded, and the car drove out of the city.

Before they got on the highway, they encountered a traffic light. Ting Shuang stopped the car and kissed Bai Changyi in the light from the summer sun.

The light turned green and a horn sounded from behind.

Ting Shuang reluctantly ended the kiss, turning his head to take a look.

Following behind them was also a convertible, and the driver was also a young and energetic guy. He gave Ting Shuang the middle finger.

Ting Shuang originally wanted to say sorry, but when he saw the other person’s attitude, he immediately returned the gesture, arrogantly saying in German, with obvious grammatical errors, “If your boyfriend looked like this, you wouldn’t be able to hold back too.”

Bai Changyi, “…”

He had a headache.

“It’s illegal to use insulting gestures while driving.” Bai Changyi said after Ting Shuang started the car.

Ting Shuang felt like it was unfair, as if he’d fought with other classmates, but the teacher only criticized him, “He flipped me off first.”

“I know.” Bai Changyi said, “But the better solution is to make him pay a fine of four thousand euros.”

“… I know.” Ting Shuang murmured, “Scolding me is all you know.”

Bai Changyi said flatly, “Your boyfriend looks like this, so what if he scolds you?”

Taken aback, Ting Shuang immediately laughed, “Yes, I should be scolded. Since you look like this, you can do whatever you want.”

When the car got onto the highway, Ting Shuang stepped on the gas, quickly building to a speed of 200 kilometres per hour.

The wind whistled, and lights blurred all around them. The world only consisted of what was in front of them.

Only what was ahead.

Focused. Immersed. At peace.

There was no sunlight. There was no darkness.

Only what was ahead.

“Bai Changyi.” Ting Shuang eyes stayed on the road ahead of them as he asked nonchalantly, “Why do you stay as a professor in the university.”

“Anything else is boring.” Bai Changyi said in a flat tone.

“You tried others.” Ting Shuang said.

“I did.” Bai Changyi said.

Ting Shuang stopped talking, stepped on the gas and reached 240 kilometres per hour.

Another car was left behind in the dust.

“Bai Changyi.” He suddenly said again, “If tomorrow, I’m no longer your student, what would you do?”

Bai Changyi said, “Then I’ll invite all the professors who have taught you to the house for dinner.”

Ting Shuang’s lips curved upwards, and he laughed for a long time.

After laughing, he asked, “If I never liked it, but still forced myself to graduate with this master, would you despise me?”

“No.” Bai Changyi said, “I’d respect your decision.”

“Then, would you let me write my graduation thesis under you? If you’re guiding me, other professors will definitely not find fault with me.”

Bai Changyi glanced at the dashboard, “Do we have to discuss this issue when we’re going 240 kilometres per hour.”

Ting Shuang increased the speed to 270 kilometers per hour, “How about now.”

“I’ll assign you, little bastard, to my most annoying PhD student as his punishment.”

The corners of Ting Shuang’s lips raised again, “I love you.”

Bai Changyi nodded, “I can take it for the time being.”

The corners of Ting Shuang’s mouth remained tipped up.

After a while, he asked Bai Changyi, “Then if I want to drive around Europe by myself, and try out different things to find out what I like, will you respect my decision?”

“Of course I will.” Bai Changyi thought for a while, “I will be very happy.”

The cars in front of them kept being taken over.

Ting Shuang didn’t care about the various looks from others in the cars that were overtaken.

He loosely held the steering wheel and looked ahead.

Only ahead.

At the endless scenery ahead, at an unknown place.

Until a junction appeared in the distance, as well as a road sign.

They’d reached another city.

Ting Shuang slowed down and got off the highway.

“Do we return?” he asked.

Bai Changyi looked at the map, “No, there is a high school two kilometers ahead.”

“High school?” Ting Shuang drove following the map, “What are we going there for?”

Bai Changyi smiled at Ting Shuang, “Play football and destroy everyone else, so even Germans can’t beat you.”

Ting Shuang got a glance of the high school’s football field on the map and understood, “You want me to play with high school students? Actually, every time I passed by school near our place and saw people playing, I wanted to play with them. But then I’m afraid they wouldn’t want to play with me because they think I’m too old.”

Bai Changyi said, “Don’t worry, they look older than you.”

When the car drove up to the football field, Ting Shuang saw that those high school students looked so mature they looked like they were in their twenties.

“How are you going to ask them…” Ting Shuang got out of the car and stood in front of the football field, embarrassed to go straight in.

“I won’t ask them.” Bai Changyi said, “Go and ask them yourself.”

“Then, what should I say?”

Without thinking, Bai Changyi said, “You can say you just came to Germany from China not long ago, and you are thinking about which high school to transfer to, so you came to have a look. You really like football, and when you saw them playing, you felt like playing too. Boys, everyone would be familiarised with each other after just a few minutes.”

“Aren’t you too shameless? I can’t sprout such nonsense…”

Before Ting Shuang finished speaking, a curly blond haired boy ran over from the football field, looked at Ting Shuang, and then at Bai Changyi, “What can I do for you?”

Bai Changyi smiled without a word.

“Uh…” Ting Shuang froze for a while, and ended up choosing to take up Bai Changyi’s shamelessness, “I want to transfer to your school, can we play football together?”

Curly-haired blond smiled extremely innocently and nodded, “Sure, Marco’s sick, so we happen to have one less person. Come with me.”

Ting Shuang followed Curly onto the football field, but turned back after a few steps to give Bai Changyi a kiss, “Wait for me.”

Bai Changyi walked to the bleachers and sat down, watching from a distance as Ting Shuang and the other children started sweating as if they were playing in the rain.

The lights shone on the football field. Delight shone in his eyes.